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Q:

How does an airfoil lift?

A:

An airfoil is like a slice of a wing and because of its shape it produces lift. Wings are shaped like teardrops. A wing's top is curved and its bottom is flat. Since its top is curved, air on top of a wing moves faster than air on bottom. This relates to Bernoulli's Principle. Bernoulli's Principle states that faster moving air has lower air pressure, or lower push, and slower moving air has higher air pressure. When airplanes begin to move forward, the wings shape makes air on top move faster than air on bottom. This allows pressure on the bottom of the wing to become higher than the pressure pushing down and causes the plane to lift off the ground. 

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